Poetic injustice, cries Purple Ronnie, the card shop bard

The creator of the irreverent character tells Rosie Millard he can’t understand why he’s missed out on poetry’s top job

Of all the poets who are miffed to have missed out on the post of poet laureate, perhaps the most bizarre is Giles Andreae. You probably won't know his name, but you will know his work as the genius behind Purple Ronnie and Edward Monkton, mainstays of high street card shops, characters who between them have shifted 80m greetings cards and 5m books.

"It's hard to put into words why Purple Ronnie has not been considered of suitable merit," says Andreae, 43, who first sprang verse such as "Nothing is more satisfying than a really good session on the lav" on the world aged 22.

"But perhaps it's because I write about happiness and love, which are not trendy subjects for literature. But I am very serious about love and happiness."

Are love and happiness really that unpopular? Surely all poets, even acknowledged misanthropes such as Philip Larkin, eventually write